A Letter from Mark Bartman, Board President 

Hi, my name is Mark Bartman. It is a privilege to serve as your Board President. Thank you for having the confidence to support our foundation with fundraising efforts and volunteering. Many lives have been touched as a result. We can continue to make a difference in the lives of burn survivors and their families with your help.

My 10-year commitment to the foundation may require a short personal history.  At the age of 12, I was involved in an electrical accident with 3 members of my family. As the only survivor, I remember lying in the hospital room with third degree burns over 30% of my body and wondering how life could continue. At the time this level of injury was life threatening, but due to the caring and skill of healthcare professionals I was able to leave the hospital and rejoin the world. At times, while enjoying this life, I cannot help but say a special thanks to all those people who were there to help. The realization that complete strangers have committed their lives to help you is a profound experience and changes your perspective in a positive way.  

We are fortunate as burn survivors that highly skilled, committed individuals that would have excelled in any field of study or employment have chosen healthcare, fire service, and many burn-related fields. This dedication to their profession and finding time for volunteering is greatly appreciated. There have been tremendous advances in the healthcare profession due to research and development of burn injuries. The result is shorter hospital stays, advanced burn care and a large volunteer base assisting the survivor. 

While volunteering at our summer camp program, I have been asked on occasion “I understand why burn survivors help, but why do others care?” My simple answer at the time was “You answered the question, “Because they care.”” We are so fortunate as a foundation to have the support of the community and businesses. Thank you for the continued support and together with staff and volunteers we will strive to meet the demands needed to support survivors and their families. Since 1982, the Northwest Burn Foundation has evolved to reach new levels of support for burn survivors. With the efforts of fundraisers, volunteers, and the community, we can realize the dream of establishing a safety net for survivors. Providing a foundation of support throughout the life of the survivor, introduction into society and school, assisting with self confidence issues are all within our mission. We enable them to climb over hurdles with the passionate support of so many caring people.  There is a debt of gratitude from myself as a survivor to all of you who help. The smiles on the faces of people who have endured hardship, is one sign that you are making a difference. Changing a life, continuing to support our foundation, we can achieve our mission. Thank you so much. A wave can begin as a ripple. Never underestimate any effort or idea. 

THE HOUSING OUR FAMILIES CALL HOME 

When a crisis strikes and families are in despair, the NWBF comes to the aid of Northwest Burn survivor’s families. Since 1985 the foundation has provided families with safe, clean emergency housing. The three units are directly across the street from the Harborview Medical Center, which houses the Burn Center.  

The three apartments allow family members to stay close to their loved ones during hospitalization and treatment.  There are no costs to family members, thus taking away the additional stress of added expenses during an already difficult time.  Families stay anywhere from one week to as long as five months. 

We also provide short-term housing at nearby hotels when our apartments are all in use.

This allows families to be near their loved one and move into an apartment as soon as it is vacated and cleaned.

As one young burn survivor said, holding back her emotions - “After visiting hours were over, I often really needed my Mom.  The nurses would call her at the emergency housing across the street from the hospital and she would come right over.  The apartments close location allowed my Mom and family members to be there for me when I needed their support.  Having my family close during recovery helped tremendously, both emotionally and helping heal my wounds." 

Studies have found that burn recovery is strongly influenced when a patient has a support system of family and friends consistently available to them (Thompson, et al., 1999; Gilboa, et al., 1999;Deitch and Rutan, 2000). By being close to the Burn Center, families can actually become an integral part of the recovery plan for the patient and can help the burn patient deal with the pain, multiple surgeries and immediate recovery from the injuries. 

The Northwest Burn Foundation quietly and with a helping hand, reaches out to support families, whose loved ones are undergoing medical care for burns.  The Emergency Housing is provided through the generosity of community citizens and local foundations. 

For more information or to help support the families being served by the Emergency Housing call (206)789-6838.